$10/mo, $120 year. A $169 charge for a replacement Iphone. If your phone bellies up after a year you pay $269 and get a reconditioned phone, not a new phone. The Iphone costs about $207 to build new. Nothing but PURE profit for Verizon and Asurion. The question becomes: spend $120/yr for insurance with minimal coverage or.... not. My take: not.

I assume you are only counting the cost of parts when you throw out that $207 value. This is NOT the only cost associated with the development/manufacture/sale of an iPhone. There are other costs involved. Infrastructure/research/advertising/etc...

Additionally, you are of course assuming Verizon/Assurion purchases iPhones from Apple for $207 which they don't.

Regardless, I agree that insurance on a cell phone is not a good value.

Actually, $207 is a generous (read: likely high) estimate. Industry analysts peg the cost of an IPhone5 at betweek $187 and $207. That is not BOM costs, rather, a fully assembled/tested unit delivered to the U.S.

Then there's shipping, licensing, warehouse costs, ect. All that said regardless of the cost Apple sells them to all the carriers at a very healthy markup.

As for Assurion I can't say it's the best value in the world (especially with the Iphone, high rates and higher deductible yikes). But, what I can say is they usually get you the phone asap, they cover some accessories that were impacted and it also extends your warranty while you are paying the $10 per month(or $7 if it's not an Iphone), so if it's an issue that falls under manufacturers warranty you get a replacement for free even after the first year, so there is some value there to the right person. An option like square trade is cheaper because it is limited. Doesn't cover lost/stolen, doesn't extened the warranty or cover any accessories as far as I can tell from thier website.

Personally, I get a good case, be careful with my phone and don't get insurance

You may quibble about the cost, a buck here, a buck there, but the bottom line is that Asurion is making big bucks off their insurance at your expense. Be sure to remind yourself that their "insurance" provides a replacement phone, not a new phone. Yes, replacements are used. They take your failing phone, send you a repaired phone from a previous customer and then repair your phone to unload on the next sucker. How's that play into your cost model? Two viable options: Ebay and Square Trade.

I had a Droid Razr for several months and ended up shattering the glass underneath the glass. And every phone they sent me (had to go through several) was brand new and still sealed. It depends on the phone and how long it has been out.

Plus not everyone can afford to pay full retail price or 400-500 dollars outright for a phone. My phone retails at $800. I couldn't afford half of that.